Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo Temple

Kinshasa, capital city if the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will be home to one of the newest temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The announcement was made by Prophet Thomas S. Monson at the 181st general conference, the LDS Church’s semi-annual worldwide broadcast. This temple and another new temple announced that day for Durban, South Africa, will be the fourth and fifth LDS temples dedicated in Africa. Congolese members currently travel more than 2,000 miles to Johannesburg, South Africa, to enjoy temple worship and work. This new Kinshasa Temple will serve 23,000 church members in the region.

Kinshasa’s first LDS missionaries arrived in February 1986. Church services were organized in members’ homes until September of that year when the remodeled villa the Church purchased was ready to accommodate its 208 members. Nine years after the Zaire Kinshasa Mission was established, a stake (or group of local congregations) was organized.